Roses
by kurususexual
Summary: Marceline is a vampire that never ages, but the thought had never once crossed her mind that she would outlive her significant other - until now.


There was nothing sweet about this love. She was beautiful, intelligent, charming, and had her own quirky personality that a lot of her followers loved as well as the female Vampire. It was not good, not at all. There was no reason not to fall in love with her or hate her; so the Vampire did exactly that and it would be devastating. Time and time again she had told herself not to, but the Princess made it literately impossible not to.

Dull red hues glanced every so often in her direction. Princess Bubblegum sat on the floor reading a book, her back against the wall for support. Marceline let out an exaggerated sigh as her eyebrows knit together in frustration. "Oh, come on! I bet that's not even a cool book! Let's do something fun." Ignoring the ignorant remark, Bubblegum flipped to the next page of her literature, lips pressed together. She wasn't going to bother to give the desired attention to her girlfriend.

Once shown she was going to be given no response Marceline groaned aloud in frustration and floated upwards. The Vampire Queen decided to entertain herself by floating upside down right in front of the occupied Princess. The Vampire Queen's long hair dangled downwards behind the hard-back book. Marceline, her interest not in anything in particular started to scan the book herself. What exactly was keeping her girlfriend's attention for so long? Not quite understanding the scientific notations and equations, the noirette turned right side up and drifted off and out the window muttering a quiet, "I'll be back." Looking back at the female sitting on the floor, book still propped open with a thumb, she shook her head hopelessly and disappeared outside into the garden. The night air greeted her as the cool breeze rolled over her bare arms and she took a deep breathe in. Marceline figured she would take a small walk to let out the small amount of energy she built up while sitting around. Walking alongside the rose bush she stared at the different colored roses. For being in the Candy Kingdom it was a surprise to the ageless girl that the roses weren't taffy or sculpted sugar. The Kingdom must have received this plant as a gift, or had them imported from outside the walls. Eyeing a vibrant red rose Marceline was reminded of the Princess' beauty and picked it from the bush. The Vampire was suddenly overcome with a sudden thirst and she couldn't help but bring the flower close to her lips. Opening her mouth, fangs glimmering she stopped herself from sucking the color from the flower. Later she would have to find a substitute for this red rose, but for now she returned to the room where Princess Bubblegum was still situated on the floor. Floating in front of her, Marceline held the delicate flower out towards her girlfriend. Eyes flickering up from the printed page of her book Bubblegum's lips curved up into a small smile and closed her book. Marceline simply stated, "It reminded me of you."

Every year it suddenly started to hurt a little more.

A few summers had passed and the Princess had now become an official Queen; although she still liked being called Princess because it sounded better. Being a Queen meant there was more work for her to do. Not only did she have to give up a lot of her time she also had to stop spending time with some of her friends, including her girlfriend. No matter how much she wanted to there always seemed to be some sort of pressing matter to attend to. Only getting a break once in a little while the Queen would retire to her room and lock the door behind her. Dragging herself toward the window she would unlock in and change into her pajamas and crawl into bed tiredly. Marceline knew that PB always expected her at night, so they devised a time that Marceline could come in and visit, though it was usually at night and Bubblegum was already sound asleep because of the stress that had continued to pile up on her already large work load. Flying through the window, a red rose in hand she floated over to the sleeping beauty and hovered over the mattress. Sighing, Marceline placed the rose on the empty pillow next to her girlfriend. Staring for just a few seconds she looked away, a sharp, sudden pang in her chest. PB was looking a lot more tired, bags formed under her eyes and there were small stress wrinkles around her forehead. Short quick breathes pushed past her lips as her head rested against her pink pillow and Marceline could only watch. She didn't dare disturb the other's rest.

Pristine grey fingers gently felt the soft red petals from the rose in her hand. The single rose was really soft, and Marceline could help but smile dumbly at herself as she admired its beauty. Not once had she thought about draining the flower of its color. Floating up into the open window she saw the familiar pink hair, although not as vibrant as before, it was still very lovely. Despite not being as long as it was used to it was still long enough, however right now it was kept in a low bun. A small smile etched its way onto her face as Marceline placed the rose on the table that the other female was working at. The fluid movement of the pen had stopped and PB looked up and smiled. "Thank you for coming by again, but I won't be able to finish up soon like I expected earlier. There's a lot of paperwork that needs to be sorted through and signed for my permission on certain things regarding the Kingdom's status with the Bandits from the City of Thieves." Marceline frowned slightly and nodded understandingly. Things were going to be hard for the time being. Sitting quietly next to her, Marceline laid her head against the desk and watched the pen dance around, then stop, then continue until she noticed it was placed down. "Will you help me to the bed? I'm feeling very tired now." Stretching out quickly, Marceline sat up and held onto PB's arm and led her to the bed. Bubblegum's movement was slow and it looked like she began walking with a limp. The reading glasses she had were kept on at all times now and only came off when she was going to bed. Finally lying down, Bubblegum smiled and eyed the rose on the table. "Thank you for bringing me another one."

Marceline nodded smiling sadly, "It's no problem." Bubblegum was soothed asleep from Marceline's quiet humming and the Vampire Queen soon vanished into the dead of the night.

Time and age consumes everyone and everything, but a select few are lucky— or rather damned to be given immortality.

It was winter now; quiet and cold. Marceline braved the cold and managed to get a hold of one more rose before the bush died from the frost. Holding onto the rose she flew up to the window leading to PB's room. It was locked and covered with thick curtains. Sorrow struck the vampire as she noticed the latch was locked. Flying back down Marceline entered through the front gate and went up the flight of molded chocolate stairs, right hand gliding along the candy cane railing. Upon reaching the top she continued down the corridor, her hair flowing behind her from the speed she was going. Bubblegum's room was all the way towards the end. The door was closed and Marceline only pushed in open a little. Waiting for any type of noise she poked her head in and observed the sitting retired Queen. PB sat alone, staring at her hands folded up in her lap. She had been affected by the cold, her fragile dull skin shaking. Marceline entered, boots clacking along the flooring as she grabbed the extra blanket at the end of the bed. Lightly wrapping the blanket around Bubblegum, Marceline sat across from her, legs crossed in the air. "Hey," she said softly, placing the rose on PB's lap. Bubblegum stared at the rose through her prescribed framed glasses and smiled after a while, "Oh, look a rose! I love roses."

The Vampire Queen frowned, overlooking her partner as she inspected and smelled the flower. Since when had Bubblegum gotten so old? Where did the time go? Why did this have to happen? Looking away Marceline couldn't handle the painful sight. Looking back at the older female, she forced a bright smile. "I know, Bonnie. I know."


End file.
